METAIRIE, La. — Former New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees said he might have played several more years in the NFL if not for degeneration in his right throwing shoulder.
«Honestly, man, if my right arm was still working, I probably would've played another three years,» Brees said Thursday. «My body feels great. My body can play, my right arm can't. Unfortunately that's what kind of forced me to step away. And it was time too.»
Brees, who retired after the 2020 season following a 20-year career in the NFL, said he seriously considered coming out of retirement, but the diminishing capabilities of his surgically repaired shoulder prevented a comeback.
«At the end of the day, it's like, how capable… am I to do the job, right? I would've run QB draws, I would've done whatever. I would've done some veer option. We would've pulled out all the stops. I was ready. Pull out the high school playbook,» Brees joked.
Brees said he felt there was a lack of closure after concluding his NFL career in front of a mostly empty stadium. The Saints had less than 4,000 fans in attendance for the Saints' loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFC wild-card round of the 2020 playoffs due to COVID-19 restrictions.
«Certainly to have it be in a situation like that where you're not able to really be with the fans and celebrate it with all those who are so important, I felt like there was a little bit of a lack of closure,» Brees said. «I try not to think about, like, the glance back in the Dome because I wish it would've been with a packed house. That energy that is so synonymous with the Superdome that I'll always remember and what we always fed off every game day. My image of the Dome is much different than that last one.»
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